Blog

There’s been stormy seas in the Bay of Plenty for the past few days. A quick walk along the beach yesterday was another reminder that all is not sweet on our beaches yet.
Large droplets and chunks of weathered oil and several dead birds were washed up. Additionally there were some large legs of meat that were bobbing around in the water and laying on the beach – not surprising there’s been a few sharks seen in the area lately. The oil sticks to everything, especially feet!

The first release of 49 clean Little Blue Penguins at Mt. Maunganui beach. It was an awesome feeling watching the little guys head for the ocean and back to where they belong.

We’re glad to report things seem to be winding down. There’s still a lot of birds in care at the wildlife center but very few new oiled birds coming in.

We’ve done a few more days volunteering since the last post, split between bird washing in the ‘dirty tent’ and bird care and feeding in the ‘clean tents’. So many people have donated their time to turn this place into a well functioning facility – it has been a privilege to be involved.

Very early morning starts, Ali ‘gearing-up’ with boots, tyvex suit and gloves, one of the very warm clean bird tents.

Menu = Fish, Ali ‘scribing’ notes – all birds have thorough health and feeding records, me assisting with feeding.

The awesome outdoor penguin rehab aviaries, one happy, clean, LBP.

Day 2 for us, another day of bird washing and rehab, getting systems smooth and as many birds through as possible with the best care.
Here’s a brief overview of the process for each bird:
When a bird comes into the centre it gets triaged, assessed, tagged and has bloods taken. Then it goes into a heated holding pen and is monitored, hydrated and tube fed until ready to be washed. To wash the bird it is first coated in canola oil to loosen the oil it is coated in. Then it is washed repeatedly in hot water mixed with Dawn dishwashing detergent until all the oil has been removed. There is skill involved in this as it needs to be done without damaging the bird’s feathers. Dawn is the only brand that really works well for this and as it’s only available in the US at the moment there’s limited supplies on hand and treated rather like liquid gold.
For an oiled penguin this washing process is taking us an average of 20 minutes per bird, one person holding the bird, one washing it, and two or three others on hand to change the water tubs, top up the detergent, keep the water at the right temperature and do the paperwork.
The bird is then taken to be rinsed which involves washing it with a high pressure hose in order to get all the detergent out. If any detergent remains on the bird it will be unable to make itself waterproof again and that will be just as much of a death sentence as if it were covered in oil.
After 10-15 minutes of rinsing (for a penguin), the bird is finally ‘clean’.

It is then transported to the clean area where it is given time to recover and begin the long process of preening itself back to waterproofness. Every barb of every feather on the bird has to be preened and re-oiled back into place – one tiny gap and water is able to penetrate through the feathers and onto the bird’s skin which would be a death sentence.
The birds are kept fed and hydrated and are given frequent opportunities to swim in outdoor pools, where their waterproofing can be monitored and assessed.

Little Blue Penguins in waiting pens, tube fed fluids and food, the bird wash room setup.

Oiled LBP from pens, canola oil wash.

Detergent washing.

Detergent washing, ready for rinse, clean penguin.

We spent the day volunteering in the Oiled Wildlife Response Team at Te Maunga, Mount Maunganui – helping wash the heavily oiled birds and doing whatever work was required.

An oiled Little Blue Penguin waiting for wash.

A group of oiled Little Blue Penguins.

An oiled Little Blue Penguin waiting for wash.

Washed Little Blue Penguins swimming in the rehab pool.